Instead, he decided to pursue what had been in the back of his mind since he was in high school: He joined the Peace Corps.

“I thought, ‘If not now, when?’” Crowninshield said.

And so for the past half year he’s been living in a single room in a remote South African desert town, teaching computer skills to local teachers and students.

Crowninshield, who turned 51 on Wednesday, acknowledges that joining the Peace Corps is probably not the first thing that comes to mind for men in his age group.

But at the time he was in a unique position of independence, having been divorced and with his son, an only child, about to leave home for college.

Besides that, the East Providence jewelry company for whom he’d worked 20 years, most recently as its information technology manager, had gone through bankruptcy and been bought by another firm.

Although he jokes about dealing with his so-called mid-life crisis, Crowninshield stresses that the Peace Corps is not suitable for anyone looking for a quick lifestyle alternative, good intentions notwithstanding.

He emphasizes that the background checks are extremely rigorous.

“You need to have a spotless record for the Peace Corps; there are plenty of people who want to join,” said Crowninshield, whose brother Steve is a Taunton police detective and other brother Glenn a fire department lieutenant.

(He jokes that his sister, an accountant in Boston, actually “works for a living.”)

Crowninshield said these two weeks will be his only visit to Taunton this year, the first of a two-year commitment to the Corps.

Joining the Peace Corps

When he applied for the job as a PC volunteer, his preference was to live and teach somewhere in Sub-Sahara Africa. One of the things that influenced his thinking was “A Long Way Home,” a memoir describing the Sierra Leone civil war in which child soldiers were exploited.

Crowninshield, however, points out the Peace Corps assigns volunteers strictly on the basis of where they’re most needed. But he says he was more than willing to comply, whether it be an assignment in Africa or East Europe.

“I didn’t care. I’m a pretty rugged guy. They could have put me anywhere,” he said.

It turns out he landed what he considers a plum assignment — living in the Kalahari Desert in South Africa’s North West province.

He said what sets his village apart and attracts visitors from surrounding communities is its single black-tar road and a grocery store.

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“If someone wants to build a house they just do it. There is no planning board, and no septic or running water either,” Crowninshield said. “It’s a big sprawl with no neighborhoods.”

He likens his surroundings, with animals walking about freely and no western-style streets, to a type of amusement park. He also cautions that it can be somewhat risky venturing out alone at night.

“It’s fun,” he says.

He gets a $300 monthly stipend to cover basic needs.

A new lifestyle

Crowninshield initially underwent two months of training with other recruits, during which time he learned how to converse in Setswana, which also happens to be the official language of Botswana.

He also quickly discovered what his body’s digestive system found objectionable.

Before leaving the States he purposefully bulked up with weights and exercise. But in his first five months in the field he lost 40 pounds from bouts of diarrhea.

“There are a whole new set of germs and conditions. But it happens to everyone. Now I can drink the water fine,” he said, adding that his diet consists mainly of rice and beans.

Crowninshield says because PC workers are considered “soft targets” to would-be kidnappers, security policy precludes him for identifying exactly where he lives, or the location of the school to which he walks a mile each day.

The nearest Peace Corps associate is at least 10 kilometers away, he says.

“You’re literally on your own,” Crowninshield said.

He also added, with a laugh, “I’m the only white guy in a village of about 20,000 people.”

Crowninshield said he finds it somewhat remarkable to consider that apartheid — the legal system that denied majority black citizens basic rights and restricted their travel — has only been abolished since 1994.

And although he says there are traces of resentment and unease between the races in larger, more industrialized areas, in his village he’s had no trouble forging long-lasting friendships.

A little girl who lives nearby with her mother was initially afraid of him and would cry. But now, he says, they get along fine and she insists on helping him clean his clothes.

He said the modern, although somewhat Spartan, facility has approximately 50 personal computers “networked together.” The training center, he said, was created through the cooperative effort of the government’s department of education and Vodacom, a South African-based mobile communications company.

For now, he says, the teachers who receive training have no previous experience with computers and no computers in their classrooms.

By completing the course those teachers and their schools can then apply for grants to pay for a computer lab.

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“It’s a start,” Crowninshield said.

Many of the adults have never used a keyboard before and sometimes become frustrated. But he says local kids who also are allowed to use the computers take to it like a fish to water.

“Kids are kids everywhere,” he said. “They’ve already learned how to open their own e-mail and Facebook accounts, and they post videos on YouTube.”

Crowninshield says the area where he lives and teaches has an HIV-infection rate of about 30 percent and no particular industry, other than cattle.

He says many residents rely on government subsidies and that most young people end up leaving for employment opportunities in cities.

But he says he’s gratified knowing that his efforts are appreciated.

“It’s very fulfilling to help people who are dying to learn,” he said.

Asked if he recommends the Peace Corps to other Americans, Crowninshield said, “The short answer is yes.”

“I can’t recommend it enough,” he added. “You meet amazing people and get to know their culture — you live it.”